I have been doing a bunch of research on virtual reality and its benefits in education and its success in global collaborations. Virtual reality has really changed the game in general but has seriously changed the game in education. VR creates an entire digital environment, a 360-degree, immersive user experience that feels real. In a virtual reality setting, students can interact with what they see as if they were really there and some benefits are providing students with immersive learning experiences, other benefits of virtual reality in education include the ability to inspire students’ creativity and spark their imaginations. Virtual Reality can also be used to motivate students and allow them to explore new academic interests. Virtual Reality in education also helps students struggling to understand difficult academic concepts. Overall virtual reality has had great success when it comes to global collaborations. Virtual Reality enhances collaboration and increases productivity.

After reading the conclusion of Sail the 7 C’s “Becoming Change Makers” it made me think about what kind of classroom I want to create when I am a teacher. And after doing some observing of the website for the WE Virtual Learning Center, I have discovered things I want to implement in my classroom like creating a student tool kit. A tool kit allows students to show and understand empathy, communication, collaboration, resilience and problem – solving. This tool kits allows students to find their “why” which is when you put your time and energy toward an issue you are passionate about or a problem you want to solve, you can make real change. I think that is so important for me to implement this toolkit in my future classroom. I think its also important for me to implement online calendars for students and parents to access at any time so they can understand what’s going on, what’s due and what to prepare for.

I have been doing a lot of research about accessibility tools and I have come across some amazing ones. As a future teacher it is so important for me to be aware of this tools and how I can incorporate them into my future classroom. I first want to talk about google translate, this tool is very familiar to me because I used this tool so much in high school. I took German as my language class and my teacher only talked to use and assigned work in German. Since my teacher never used English, google translate was my best friend and helped me to thoroughly understand my teacher, grasp what he was saying and do what was being asked of me. The next tool is Kurzweil, which provides built-in features for reading, writing and study skills for those students struggling with literacy. This program is designed to help students become independent learners, active participants with their education, and assist students to achieve full academic potential. I myself remember struggling with reading and studying skills and if I had something like Kurzweil it probably would of benefited me greatly. I can also implement this in my future classroom to help struggling students. The next tool is Zoom Text, which is a screen magnifier for Microsoft Windows tailored for low vision users. I can use this tool to help my students who struggle with their vision get a better grasp on what they are reading because they can see and understand it better. I can also use Thunder T3 in my classroom, which is a earmuffs feature Air Flow Control technology that reduce noise in the room. I can use this feature to help my students who have trouble focusing because of background sound and with the help of these headphones, these students that are struggling will be able to better their focus. The next tool is called a Smartpen which works like a pen, but use Bluetooth technology to record audio and send it to a smartphone, tablet, or PC. This product is designed to help students capture the most from classroom lectures and documents information that could be missed while in the classroom. This would be an amazing tool in a middle school classroom or higher level of education for students to be able to take notes do assignments. The next tool which is very similar to the one previous one is the C- Pen reader which is a portable device that reads printed text aloud with an English, Spanish or French human-like digital voice. This would be amazing in my future classroom if I had to communicate with a student that has trouble speaking and understanding English. The last and final tool is the Read & Write program which is a program that makes the web, documents, and files more accessible through an intuitive and user-friendly toolbar that assists students, faculty, and staff with everyday tasks such as reading text aloud, understanding unfamiliar words, researching assignments and proofing written work. This program is great for those with learning difficulties, English Language Learners, and/or anyone who needs extra help with their reading and writing. All of these tools are amazing and helpful and I am eager to use these in my future classroom.

I chose to examine a hyperdoc about Animal Adaptations. This hyperdoc shows how to COMPARE & CONTRAST HOW ANIMALS USE PHYSICAL AND BEHAVIORAL ADAPTATIONS IN ORDER TO SURVIVE. This hyperdoc includes suggestions for teachers who are teaching about this subject, along with teacher notes and student goals. This hyper doc gives great examples and pictures to create a safe learning space and allows for this information to be easily acknowledged and remembered. This hyperdoc shows how to can grasp our students attention and shows fun learning games and assignments for students to engage in.

I chose to blog about the virtual tour I took using Air Pano . It felt like I was traveling the world in seconds just by clicking around the site. The pictures are so beautiful and so scenic that it felt like I was right there in real life in Greece, Antartica, the Gambier Islands and the Maldives. This site allows you to explore these places in a 360 degree way so that you really feel like you are there on vacation. The site uses panorama to capture the most beautiful parts of each place to allow viewers to get an understanding of what they can travel to see and what they can expect.

While reading chapter 2 I learned about Microsoft’s commitment to making sure all kinds of communication are accessible to everyone in terms of writing, listening and speaking. This technology is called the “Immerse Reader”. Microsofts goal is to empower every person and organization to achieve more. Chapter 2 really opened my eyes about Microsoft because I had no idea how much they have done to help benefit everyone that has Microsoft at the touch of their finger tips.

I chose to investigate Childhood Educational International because I found it so interesting and helpful for myself as a future educator. This program is amazing, it offers a guided opportunity for primary schools to assess their progress toward embedding global citizenship education into the entire educational experience. Which allows schools to reach key milestones and to be recognized and celebrated by the Global Schools First community.  Whether your school is just beginning or already expert, they will support you throughout your global citizenship education journey. As a future educator, I find this so useful, this helps students succeed and thrive in the changing economy and learn how to contribute to their global community. I know that there are no wrong ways to approach global citizenship education because every school, individual, and educator is so different. I plan on using this tool in my future classroom in little steps at a time because I know that anything helps and will make an impact. I plan to create an atmosphere where my students are aware of things like financial stability and situations to make contributions to the world which allows for the opportunity for personal success for each and every student. I want my students to be aware of everything that are in their power and that they are capable of. I want my students to be aware of all they can accomplish to not only make themselves better people but to make the world a better place.

To me collaboration goes hand and hand with cooperation, to collaborate means to work together to create or produce something. Global collaboration has a huge impact on education to help and better others in the best ways possibles. After scrolling through Twitter I found a post that really stuck out to me, it was about the National Guard and how they continue to globally collaborate with schools. The National Guard partnered with Cabo Verde through the state partnership program to donate books to schools that desperately need them. The National Guard is an extremely powerful group and their collaboration with everyone, especially schools will never go unnoticed. The National Guard is eager for students to get the best education they can possibly get. They are hands on collaborators globally, all over the world striving to give all they can to better the education for those of the future.